Notes for proper blood pressure measurement:

• Refrain from drinking tea, coffee or smoking cigarettes 30 minutes before the measurement.
• Relax in a comfortable position for a couple of minutes before taking a blood pressure reading.
• The measurement should be taken in a comfortable seated position.
• Place the arm to be used for the measurement on the table.
• Be sure to relax your arm and remove any constrictive items of clothing that might squeeze the arm during measurement.
• Remain still and keep quiet during measurement.
• Remember that the correct attachment of the cuff is essential for a proper reading.

Attaching the arm cuff:

• place the plug of the hose attaching the cuff to the monitor into the monitor’s socket
• wrap the cuff around the upper arm about 2 cm above the elbow joint
• stretch the cuff so that the top and the bottom edge are placed tightly around the arm.

Measurement:

• make sure that the device is powered (alkaline batteries or power supply)
• turn on the device by pressing the O/I button, depending on the given model
• press the START button and release it immediately, the monitor will start an automatic cuff inflation (pressurization). ATTENTION: the cuff can be pressurized only when it is attached to the arm, otherwise it may be damaged
• once the pressure in the cuff reaches the appropriate level, the automatic exhaust mechanism will gradually deflate the cuff (release the air)
• depending on the model, the pressure is measured during deflation or, simultaneously to the pulse rate, during inflation of the cuff
• during measurement, the display will show the current pressure in the cuff. The “heart” symbol will start flashing when the pulse rate is detected
• the measurement is completed when the symbol stops flashing and the monitor releases the remains of the air from the cuff
• the current reading will be shown on the LSD display: the systolic pressure, the diastolic pressure and the pulse rate

The above recommendations refer to automatic arm monitors. In case of semi-automatic monitors, it is necessary to pressurize the cuff manually.